by Ali Olson
But before he could say anything more, she hopped up. “Great! Just text me whenever. I’m going to head over to my seat. I’ll see you boys later.”
He watched her go, dumbfounded. Maybe it was for the best, though. He’d learned in the past that she could get mean—and loud—when she was sad or angry, and she tended to take any rejection pretty personally, so letting her down in public was probably not the best idea. He needed to find a way to talk to her privately without making her expect sex. That was a tall order.
He’d have to figure out how to deal with the situation without hurting her or making her think they might still get together someday. Stringing women along had never been how he did things, and he wasn’t about to start now.
This was a very strange situation for him. He’d never felt wrong about his relationship with a woman and wanted to end it without having an actual reason. Even though he wasn’t planning on marrying any of the women he spent time with or anything like that, he had his own moral code. He didn’t lie to them about his intentions or expectations of their relationship. He wasn’t going to hold anyone back from living their lives.
There was nothing he could do about it at that moment, so he tried to shut off his mind and just watch the event. The only thing he couldn’t get out of his head, couldn’t stop even if he wanted to, was an image of a beautiful woman with green eyes smiling at him.
He just couldn’t let that go, could he?
8
JESSICA SAT ON a bench, letting the other girls run into the nearest store without her. She was exhausted from following them around, and they’d been going through the mall as if it was a battlefield and they were all determined to leave victorious. She was pretty sure she was a casualty.
She just wanted to go back to her room. Or better yet, Aaron’s room. She wasn’t spending any extra money; after all, she was still working on figuring out her living arrangement when they got back to New York, and no matter what apartment she managed to find, it would be so expensive that she’d need every penny she had. Her mom and dad wouldn’t allow her to move back home—they said they didn’t want her underfoot, but she knew they wanted her to have as normal a life as she could despite her dad’s illness.
So she waited on the bench, picturing other possible places to live. It broke her heart to think of it, but someday soon her father would pass, and once that happened, Jessica didn’t think she could stay in New York any longer. She had been considering moving before she met Russ, but then they got together and he couldn’t leave the city, so she stayed. By the time their relationship ended, her dad was already sick. Her family kept encouraging her to go out and see the world, and maybe someday she would. As an editor, she could live anywhere. Like LA or San Francisco or Florida, or even a ranch in Texas.
Nope. No ranches. She gave herself a mental slap. She could already tell that leaving Vegas and her newfound pleasures would be difficult. If she started fantasizing about something that could never happen, it would only leave her hurting, and she refused to allow that.
She was a little worried about what it would be like to be home and alone once again. She was very quickly becoming addicted to Aaron’s bed—not that they’d ever actually made it to his bed—and she had very briefly considered not going back to see him at all. Except she knew that that wasn’t going to happen. He’d invited her back, and she just didn’t have it in her to say no.
Cindy walked out of the store, no new bags added to her already-weighty haul, and sat next to her. Jessica looked at her in surprise. “What’s going on? Couldn’t find anything you liked?”
Cindy shrugged. “I wanted to chat for a second. You’ve been weird and distracted.”
Jessica was about to argue, and then realized that her friend was right. And she could picture the cause of it in glorious detail.
As if Cindy could read her thoughts, she turned her whole body toward Jessica and looked her straight in the eye. “You aren’t falling in love with him or anything colossally stupid like that, right?”
Jessica would have laughed, but the concern on her friend’s face made it clear she wasn’t joking. “Cindy, no. Absolutely not. I’m just having a fun time. Letting loose a little or something.”
Cindy seemed skeptical. “Fun’s great, but you’ve been walking around all day in your own little wonderland, and that smile on your lips seems like it’s more than just an ‘I had awesome sex’ smile.”
“An ‘I had awesome sex’ smile? What exactly does that look like?”
“It’s the smile Marilyn’s been wearing all day. Yours isn’t the same.”
Jessica didn’t know what to say to that. This conversation was far out of her realm of normalcy. “And mine’s different?”
“Yep. Yours is a cute ‘I had awesome sex with a guy I want to marry and have babies with’ smile.”
Jessica couldn’t believe how serious Cindy looked. As if this wasn’t all crazy nonsense from her imagination. “Maybe my ‘I had awesome sex’ smile is different than Marilyn’s.”
Cindy would not be deterred. “All I’m saying is that you seem like you’re falling for this guy despite the fact that it’s an impossible relationship.”
“I’m not. I swear I’m not. I’ve been hurt enough to know that anything more than a fun time with this guy isn’t going to happen. I don’t even want it to happen. I saw him outside the strip club with his arms around two women, drunk and staring wide-eyed at their boobs. Trust me, I’m not going to forget that.”
Cindy looked slightly mollified, though not completely convinced. “Well, just don’t lose your head, okay? It’s going to end soon enough, and then you’ll have to get back to life at home. Maybe you can start dating again. Get yourself back on the market.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Jessica replied, but the thought only dropped her mood. Dating meant obnoxious strangers, uncomfortable pauses and awkward moments as she said good-night and spent the rest of the evening alone.
Dates had never gone well for her, whether she was going out with men from bars or guys from dating websites or on blind dates set up by sympathetic friends. Since she worked at home, those were the only ways she met eligible men, and none of them had worked out. Even Russ, by far the best dating experience she’d had, got off to a rocky start and ended horribly.
She could see that her friend was still concerned. “Cindy, it’s really nothing. I’m just smiling an ‘I had awesome sex’ smile, and I’m going to leave with no hurt feelings. I promise.”
The amount of force in her voice finally got Cindy to nod, accepting, and walk back into the store. Jessica leaned back, hoping she was telling the truth. She definitely wasn’t going to fall in love with Aaron, but she couldn’t say that it would be easy to tear herself away from something so amazing. If only he’d been the stupid sex maniac she’d assumed he was when she saw him at the strip club. But no, dammit. He had to be sweet and like Harry Potter.
After what seemed like an eternity, the girls had exhausted themselves and were ready to get back to the hotel so they could rest a little before dinner. Jessica was happy to see that it was nearly seven, and went to her room to dress. She was tired, and her eyes were telling her that she needed more sleep than she’d gotten the past two nights, but her mind was whirling with visions of Aaron.
In her room, she pulled everything out of her bag and considered each item carefully. She had two sexy dresses, both borrowed from Cindy and both he’d already seen, two dresses she had brought that looked decidedly frumpy next to the others, the pair of jeans she’d been wearing all day and a few blouses.
She wasn’t very happy with her options. She liked the way she’d looked in the dresses, and it felt nice to be a hotter version of herself, but she didn’t want to wear one of them and be stuck with that as her only clothing the next day.
Planning on staying at his room sent a thrill down her spine. Y
es, she was tired, but she’d gladly give up mental awareness and a little bit of sanity for another night like the one she’d just had. So, with that in mind, the jeans were really the best bet. But what to wear with them? None of the shirts she brought were good enough.
She wanted to be surprising and erotic, and her normal clothes certainly did not fit that mold. Then she looked at her New York coat hanging over the back of a chair, where she’d tossed it and forgotten about it in the pleasant weather. She smiled.
On the short taxi ride to his hotel, she couldn’t stop fidgeting and felt as if she couldn’t catch her breath. Her stomach was alive with a fluttery feeling she couldn’t stop. Not butterflies, though. Butterflies would indicate that she was nervous, as if this were a date or something. There was no reason to be nervous because it was all just a fun adventure and nothing more.
She’d purposely waited at her hotel until eight even though she was ready to go a half hour before. She tried to work a little, but it was impossible to edit anything. She couldn’t absorb any of the words, let alone full paragraphs of text. She’d assumed she wouldn’t get much work done over the weekend, but she’d start getting harried emails if she couldn’t get something sent out soon.
Thoughts of work drifted immediately to the back of her mind as she got close to Aaron’s hotel. There were too many other things to think about. Like Aaron’s hands touching her. That occupied a large part of her mental real estate.
Now that she was on her way, though, her thoughts turned anxious and the taxi ride felt far too short. She almost begrudgingly left the cab and paid the driver. This was one of the craziest things she’d ever done, but her nerves quickly turned to excitement as she looked at the Hard Rock’s glass doors. This was her chance to be daring and sexy, and she was going to take advantage of it. She took a deep breath and walked quickly through the casino. In the elevator, she checked her phone for the time. Twelve after eight.
Not exactly what someone would call fashionably late, and most girls would chide her for looking too eager, but that was the best she could do. Another twenty minutes of waiting around would have been impossible torture if what was waiting for her inside his room was anything like what it had been earlier.
She was finally on his floor. One deep, slow breath, and she was in front of the door. The edges of the key card felt sharp against her palm, but the thought of actually using it felt absurd. Storming into his room without knocking did not sound daring and sexy, it sounded rude, even if he had given her a key. Still, he gave it to her. Clearly he wanted her to use it.
She was standing outside his door, staring at the key card and trying to decide what to do, when the door suddenly opened. Her heart jumped and she stepped back quickly.
Aaron was standing there, looking as handsome as he had been in the fantasies she’d been playing out in her head for the past several hours. He smiled at her. She was still shocked. “How did you know I was out here?”
“I heard the elevator ding a minute ago, and then steps up to the door, and then your bag or something hit the door. It wasn’t too hard to solve the mystery. Hi. I was waiting for you.”
His words and that cute-as-hell crooked smile made her melt for just a second before she pulled it back together. She told herself it was because he was being sexy, not cute. There was a big difference, and all she wanted was sexy.
He held the door open and she walked in. On the dining room table—his suite was ridiculously big, she finally noticed—there were several platters with silver domes on top. He’d clearly ordered them room service for dinner.
A thrill went down her spine again. He definitely wasn’t planning on them leaving the room for the rest of the evening. While she was standing there looking around, he closed the door and came up behind her. She suddenly found herself wrapped in his arms, his scent and his voice as he whispered, “Totally not worth it. I could have been here all day. I never should’ve let you talk me into going.”
She leaned into him, smiling as his warm breath tickled the back of her neck. “How’d your ranch do?”
He pulled back a little and loosened his grip. She immediately regretted saying anything that would cause him to stop holding her, but he just readjusted enough to turn her toward him. “Actually we got second place. We’ve only ever gotten up to fifth before, so it was a pretty big deal. We’re celebrating tonight.”
Her heart dropped a little, but she did her best to hide the disappointment. “Oh, well, if you need to go out with your team or whatever, that’s fine. I’m pretty tired and could use some sleep, anyway.”
He leaned his head back and laughed, and the rich golden notes bounced around the room like a bell chiming. “Not them. We. You and me we. I got some champagne and we can celebrate up here. I don’t think we need the other guys for what I’ve got in mind.”
Her blood rushed hot through her. She wanted to curl up in his arms, lean her head against him and breathe deeply, just smelling him and enjoying his warmth and closeness, but that would probably seem a little too relationship-ish. Instead she turned back around and began unzipping her heavy jacket. “Will you take my coat?”
“Sure. That’s a pretty thick jacket for such a warm evening. Why—”
She smiled to herself. Without looking at him, she could tell that the coat had been a very good idea. Now that it was in his hands, she was standing in front of him in nothing but jeans and bare skin. Finally, after the silence had dragged on for longer than she’d expected, she turned her head to the side, still keeping her back facing him.
He was standing there holding the jacket, and the death grip he had on it and the expression on his face made her stand a little straighter, letting him soak it all in. Finally he let out a long breath and a low, half-whispered “Wow.”
She couldn’t help laughing, and suddenly his arms were back around her and she was again spun in his direction. She marveled once more at how light and insubstantial she was in his strong arms. It made her feel almost petite. Then he was kissing her, and her mind stopped thinking altogether. His lips brushed against the corner of her mouth, then her jaw, then began moving slowly down toward her bare shoulder, getting more intense as he went until he was lightly biting at the base of her neck.
As his hands curved along her stomach, she sighed, joy washing through her. Any stress or anxiety she had felt that day, all her exhaustion, fell away. He smiled back, and she knew he felt the same. How could letting a near stranger touch and kiss her feel so right? She didn’t know, but she wasn’t about to start trying to find out. She only knew that she was deliriously happy, and she hadn’t felt anything close to that in a very, very long time.
She lost herself in his caresses and allowed her hands to wander along his chest and down to where his penis throbbed beneath the heavy denim of his pants.
They somehow made it to his bed without her noticing exactly how they’d gotten there.
Her legs pressed against the bed behind her, and she trembled with excitement. The heat raced through her veins as she allowed herself to fall backward onto the overly large comforter. She looked up at the man above her, the mysterious cowboy with the piercing blue gaze that was focused completely on her, and was amazed that she was experiencing this moment.
Even if she never saw him again—she felt a twinge of sadness at the thought, but ignored it—she’d have this memory trapped inside her forever. She’d always be able to keep at least a little part of it alive in her mind. Even in the cold and bitterness of New York she’d have a knot of warmth.
She didn’t realize she was grinning until he smiled back. He lowered himself so his upper body engulfed hers, though his bottom half was still off the bed. He kissed the corner of her lips, then fully on her mouth, his tongue diving inside, flicking against her own in a way that felt like so much more than a kiss. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and lifted herself into him,
giving herself fully over to the kiss. It was long and grew in intensity as they pressed their bodies inexorably closer.
Just when she felt as though she could wait no longer for him, he separated himself from her by a few inches, enough to whisper, “You’re amazing, Jessica.”
Her heart skipped, and she ignored the small voice in the back of her mind telling her she was getting in too deep. Instead she whispered back, “I want you, Aaron.”
Slowly, almost agonizingly, he removed the last of his clothes and hers, sliding his hands over every inch of bare skin he revealed on her body until she was shaking from anticipation and the desperate need to have him. When they were both fully undressed and he had sheathed himself, and she was sure that he would slide inside her, he instead knelt on the floor beside the bed, pulling her gently toward the edge.
His hands worked their way up from her ankles up to her thighs, until she opened herself to him, revealing her wetness. His fingers brushed across her, and her back arched at the soft touch, the anticipation engulfing her. When his fingers were replaced by his mouth, her body released, sending a rush through her, and she cried out as it flooded her.
Only then did he bring himself to her, pressing the lengths of their bodies together, sinking his girth deep into her warm folds. As he penetrated her, his hand found hers on the bed, and they slowly rocked back and forth, enjoying the warmth of the moment.
Almost imperceptibly, the speed increased and his thrusts intensified, until she was brought again to the brink, and together their bodies reached a crescendo, leaving them both gasping, his weight pressing her into the bed’s soft coverings.
She didn’t move, eyes closed, enjoying the weight of him. Instead of feeling stifled or pinned down, which she would have expected, she felt protected and cocooned by him. One arm was wrapped around him, her hand slowly running up and down his back. The other was still clasped in his.
After a time that felt like both a delicious eternity and the briefest of moments, Aaron shifted himself until he was beside her, leaning on one elbow so he could look into her face. “I’ve never been to New York before. I think I should definitely go see it. Soon.”
